A Guide to making the Playoffs, in three easy steps!
After seeing Rob Gronkowski go down for the season, its easy for us Patriots fans to find a sandbox, kick out all the kids in it, and burry our heads in it, waiting for next year to come. But not all is lost! The Patriots are currently 10-3 and have a hold of the second seed in the AFC. With three very manageable games in front of us, there is a strong possibility the Patriots win out and hold onto that second seed.
If we do want to win come playoff time, there will be some changes that this team will need to make and lucky for you all, I will list those three things in a clear and understandable manner.
The First: Run Forrest, Run!
The loss of Gronk is a huge blow to our passing attack and thus the Patriots will have to become more reliant on their rushing attack to move the offense going forward. There can be all kinds of comparisons drawn between the first few weeks of the season (when Gronk wasn’t on the field) and now, since Gronk won’t be on the field. I look at how Stevan Ridley was used in the first six weeks of the season and think we can expect to see him used in the exact same way in the post Gronk era.
In Buffalo, on week one, Ridley had two fumbles and was put in the dog house for the next couple of weeks. This meant a lot of LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Bolden (Shane Vereen was on IR remember?). Over those six weeks, Ridley was slowly worked back into the rotation and came back for a strong performance in Week 6 against the Saints where he rushed for 96 yards and 2 TDs. This is great! Ridley again has been in the dog house due to fumbling and is being slowly worked back into the rotation. It took him about five weeks to get back into starting running back form and if we take that timetable and line it up in the post Gronk era, his ‘week 5’ game will line up perfectly with the first game of the playoffs. Does that make sense? Basically the remainder of the season it’ll be Blount carrying the work load with Vereen spelling him and healthy dash of Ridley to keep him game ready. Then come playoff times, hopefully Bill will have restored faith in Ridley, let him start, and BOOM! 100 yards and 2 TDs to help us win playoff game number one. Called it.
What this is all getting at is that the run game needs to step up in Gronk’s absence. We relied on it early in the season when Brady was still figuring out who the hell he was throwing to, and with many of those receivers injured, the running attack will again be called upon to take a bigger role in the offense.
The Second: Lets Go Rook
Here is a list of the rookies the Patriots have starting: WR Aaron Dobson, WR Kenbrell Thompkins, DT Chris Jones, DT Joe Vellano, CB Logan Ryan, and LB Jamie Collins. That is six rookies out of the 22 total starters. That may not seem like a high percentage, but for a team that could make a Super Bowl run, we are relying heavily on these rookies to perform, and for the most part they have.
In order to make it deep into the playoffs however, these rookies are going to need to play like veterans, especially on the defensive side. In the passing attack, I’m not too worried. Both Thompkins and Dobson have shown great chemistry with Brady over the season and hopefully they can get back from injury soon and be ready to go come playoff time. Where the rookies need to step up is on defense.
With both Wilfork and Kelly out, Jones and Vellano have huge shoes to fill (literally) and to this point they been doing a decent job. Chris Jones in fact at one point in the season led all rookies with 5 sacks. But where their ‘rookieness’ is felt most is in the run game. They have recently been pushed around and haven’t been able to get a strong push in the middle to clog up the holes. I’m not asking them to become Wilfork, only two or three players in the NFL can, but they are going to need to become a lot more consistent on the line if the Patriots want to make it deep into the playoffs.
Collins and Ryan have both played well in the few starts they’ve gotten and I would look for them to improve upon an already strong start. The key is they are just going to need to play smart and within themselves, especially in high pressure situations.
The Third: Its ok, we’re a second half team
Man hasn’t this point been proven over the last few weeks. Yes I love a good comeback, even though it’ll probably kill me, but come playoff time, this needs to stop. The Patriots have played like utter poop in the first half for their last three games, and then had to pull of miracles to comeback and win each one. This can’t be planned can it?
In the playoffs, every team is better. Even teams you’ve played before are better. Because it matters. Every game matters. If you go down 24 points to the Broncos in the AFC championship game, it is going to be a lot more difficult to claw your way back then during the regular season.
The Patriots need to find a way to start a game well. We don’t need to come out of the gate hot, hell just come out lukewarm. Just score at least a touchdown in the first quarter! Is that really too much to ask!? I’ve heard rumors that maybe it’s a strategy of Josh McDaniels to see what the defense is bad at and then exploit that in the second half. If that is true, McDaniels should be fired right now. You have a whole week to scout the opponent and figure out their weakness. Don’t figure it out in the first half on Sunday and then have to work your way back from a 17 point deficit. Come out with a game plan and run it.
I said before that I don’t think the Patriots will win the Super Bowl and that opinion has not changed. I do think that if the rushing attack can be established and reliable, that all our rookies can step up and rise to the challenge, and McDaniels decides to scout his opponents ahead of time, we can make it deep into the playoffs and possibly sneak our way into the Super Bowl.
- Pete Rogers
@ftcsports
@petahrahgas
 |
| Photo via Patriots.com |
The First: Run Forrest, Run!
The loss of Gronk is a huge blow to our passing attack and thus the Patriots will have to become more reliant on their rushing attack to move the offense going forward. There can be all kinds of comparisons drawn between the first few weeks of the season (when Gronk wasn’t on the field) and now, since Gronk won’t be on the field. I look at how Stevan Ridley was used in the first six weeks of the season and think we can expect to see him used in the exact same way in the post Gronk era.
In Buffalo, on week one, Ridley had two fumbles and was put in the dog house for the next couple of weeks. This meant a lot of LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Bolden (Shane Vereen was on IR remember?). Over those six weeks, Ridley was slowly worked back into the rotation and came back for a strong performance in Week 6 against the Saints where he rushed for 96 yards and 2 TDs. This is great! Ridley again has been in the dog house due to fumbling and is being slowly worked back into the rotation. It took him about five weeks to get back into starting running back form and if we take that timetable and line it up in the post Gronk era, his ‘week 5’ game will line up perfectly with the first game of the playoffs. Does that make sense? Basically the remainder of the season it’ll be Blount carrying the work load with Vereen spelling him and healthy dash of Ridley to keep him game ready. Then come playoff times, hopefully Bill will have restored faith in Ridley, let him start, and BOOM! 100 yards and 2 TDs to help us win playoff game number one. Called it.
What this is all getting at is that the run game needs to step up in Gronk’s absence. We relied on it early in the season when Brady was still figuring out who the hell he was throwing to, and with many of those receivers injured, the running attack will again be called upon to take a bigger role in the offense.
The Second: Lets Go Rook
Here is a list of the rookies the Patriots have starting: WR Aaron Dobson, WR Kenbrell Thompkins, DT Chris Jones, DT Joe Vellano, CB Logan Ryan, and LB Jamie Collins. That is six rookies out of the 22 total starters. That may not seem like a high percentage, but for a team that could make a Super Bowl run, we are relying heavily on these rookies to perform, and for the most part they have.
In order to make it deep into the playoffs however, these rookies are going to need to play like veterans, especially on the defensive side. In the passing attack, I’m not too worried. Both Thompkins and Dobson have shown great chemistry with Brady over the season and hopefully they can get back from injury soon and be ready to go come playoff time. Where the rookies need to step up is on defense.
With both Wilfork and Kelly out, Jones and Vellano have huge shoes to fill (literally) and to this point they been doing a decent job. Chris Jones in fact at one point in the season led all rookies with 5 sacks. But where their ‘rookieness’ is felt most is in the run game. They have recently been pushed around and haven’t been able to get a strong push in the middle to clog up the holes. I’m not asking them to become Wilfork, only two or three players in the NFL can, but they are going to need to become a lot more consistent on the line if the Patriots want to make it deep into the playoffs.
Collins and Ryan have both played well in the few starts they’ve gotten and I would look for them to improve upon an already strong start. The key is they are just going to need to play smart and within themselves, especially in high pressure situations.
The Third: Its ok, we’re a second half team
Man hasn’t this point been proven over the last few weeks. Yes I love a good comeback, even though it’ll probably kill me, but come playoff time, this needs to stop. The Patriots have played like utter poop in the first half for their last three games, and then had to pull of miracles to comeback and win each one. This can’t be planned can it?
In the playoffs, every team is better. Even teams you’ve played before are better. Because it matters. Every game matters. If you go down 24 points to the Broncos in the AFC championship game, it is going to be a lot more difficult to claw your way back then during the regular season.
The Patriots need to find a way to start a game well. We don’t need to come out of the gate hot, hell just come out lukewarm. Just score at least a touchdown in the first quarter! Is that really too much to ask!? I’ve heard rumors that maybe it’s a strategy of Josh McDaniels to see what the defense is bad at and then exploit that in the second half. If that is true, McDaniels should be fired right now. You have a whole week to scout the opponent and figure out their weakness. Don’t figure it out in the first half on Sunday and then have to work your way back from a 17 point deficit. Come out with a game plan and run it.
I said before that I don’t think the Patriots will win the Super Bowl and that opinion has not changed. I do think that if the rushing attack can be established and reliable, that all our rookies can step up and rise to the challenge, and McDaniels decides to scout his opponents ahead of time, we can make it deep into the playoffs and possibly sneak our way into the Super Bowl.
- Pete Rogers
@ftcsports
@petahrahgas
